Is "Ship it then fix it" a good business model? It is likely an approach to get a product to market early, or perhaps more honestly, to market on time. But after an experience I had on the weekend, I wonder about the sense of this approach and worry that the push to get Linux and Unix adopted on the desktop, through low cost outlets such as Wal-Mart , will depend on this strategy. The consequence will be a rash of viruses written for these platforms, and the reputation of Unix and Linux will take an equivalent hit.

Oh boy - the letters on the Creative advert just keep coming. For those just joining us, this is the debate over the question of whether you could drop a laptop (battery-powered) into a bath occupied by a person without killing said person.

Network Associates (NAI) is selling off its Sniffer networking tools division to private investors, and will now concentrate solely on the security market. NAI will rechristen itself as McAfee on completion of the sale, due to close in Q3.

The open source movement now has its own UK trade association, Zope UK, launched this week in London. Like all trade bodies, its primary purpose will be to represent the open source community to the outside world, and provide a forum for the exchange of experiences and ideas.

Protectionist US technology companies won a significant lobbying victory through the US Trade Department this week, as the Chinese government pledged not to promote its home-grown TD-SCDMA technology for 3G and not to interfere with royalty negotiations between Chinese carriers and foreign interests.